Haaroon Rasheed once departed for hajj accompanied by his two sons, Ameen and Ma-moon. During the journey, the royal caravan passed through the city of Kufah \u2014 a centre renowned for its pious scholars and great muhadditheen.<\/p>\n
Desiring to benefit from the knowledge of the scholars of the city, Haaroon Rasheed instructed his chief judge, Imaam Abu Yusuf (rahimahullah), saying, \u201cInform the muhadditheen to come and narrate ahaadeeth to us.\u201d Accordingly, most of the scholars of Kufah attended, besides two \u2014 \u2018Abdullah bin Idrees (rahimahullah) and \u2018Eesa bin Yunus (rahimahullah).<\/p>\n
Wishing to benefit from him directly, Ameen and Ma-moon mounted their conveyances and personally went to the home of \u2018Abdullah bin Idrees (rahimahullah), who narrated one hundred ahaadeeth to them. When he concluded, Ma-moon respectfully said, \u201cO my uncle, will you allow me to repeat them to you from memory.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Abdullah bin Idrees (rahimahullah) agreed, whereupon Ma-moon proceeded to recite all one hundred ahaadeeth exactly as he had heard them. \u2018Abdullah bin Idrees (rahimahullah) \u2013 who was himself renowned for his exceptional memory \u2013 was astonished at Ma-moon\u2019s remarkable memory.<\/p>\n
Thereafter, Ma-moon offered to purchase the house adjacent to the masjid of \u2018Abdullah bin Idrees (rahimahullah) and expand the masjid. However, \u2018Abdullah bin Idrees (rahimahullah) declined, saying, \u201cI have no need for that. It (this masjid) sufficed those before me, and it suffices me (as well).\u201d<\/p>\n
Ma-moon then noticed a sore on the arm of \u2018Abdullah bin Idrees (rahimahullah). He therefore offered, \u201cWe have physicians and remedies with us. Will you allow me to bring someone to treat you?\u201d Once again, he declined saying, \u201cNo, something similar appeared previously and it healed (on its own).\u201d Finally, Ma-moon instructed that wealth be presented to him, but he refused to accept that as well.<\/p>\n
They then went to visit \u2018Eesa bin Yunus (rahimahullah), who also narrated ahaadeeth to them. Ma-moon instructed that ten thousand dirhams (silver coins) be presented to him, but he declined. Ma-moon assumed that \u2018Eesa (rahimahullah) had declined thinking the amount too little, so he doubled it to twenty thousand dirhams. Yet again, \u2018Eesa (rahimahullah) refused saying, \u201cBy Allah! Not even a single myrobalan (a simple medicinal fruit), nor even a sip of water \u2014 (in exchange) for the hadeeth of Rasulullah (sallallahu \u2018alaihi wasallam). Even if you were to fill this entire masjid with gold up to the roof (I would not accept it)!\u201d Hearing these words, which radiated independence and dignity, they departed.<\/p>\n
(Al-Muntazam vol. 9, pg. 205)<\/em><\/p>\n Lessons:<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. Istighnaa \u2014 independence of the heart \u2014 is among the noblest qualities a believer can possess. It protects a person\u2019s honour, preserves his sincerity and frees him from humiliation before creation. When one\u2019s reliance is solely upon Allah Ta\u2018ala, his dignity remains intact, for he no longer stretches his hand nor compromises his principles for worldly gain. Wealth, position, and favour lose their influence over him, and he finds true contentment in whatever Allah Ta\u2018ala grants him. Rasulullah (sallallahu \u2018alaihi wasallam) stated, \u201cThe one who wishes to be independent (of people), Allah \u2018Azza wa Jall will keep him independent.\u201d (Sunan Nasaai #2595)<\/em> This quality shone brightly in the lives of the pious, whose hearts were far removed from greed.<\/p>\n 2. Sincerity is the very foundation of every deed preformed for the sake of Deen. When a person\u2019s intention remains pure, seeking only the pleasure of Allah Ta\u2018ala, his efforts carry barakah (blessings) and weight in the sight of Allah, even if unseen by others. Deeni service loses its essence the moment it becomes a means for wealth, recognition or favour. True sincerity requires that one serve, teach and sacrifice solely out of love for Allah Ta\u2018ala and His Rasul (sallallahu \u2018alaihi wasallam). This noble quality was beautifully exemplified by these two \u2018Ulama, who declined the generous gifts, preferring instead to preserve the purity of their service. Their sincerity shone brighter than gold, for they recognised no price worthy of the words of Rasulullah (sallallahu \u2018alaihi wasallam).<\/p>\n
![Download Musjid Poster<\/a><\/strong><<<<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21950,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspirational-incidents"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alhaadi.org.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alhaadi.org.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alhaadi.org.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alhaadi.org.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alhaadi.org.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21949"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alhaadi.org.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21949\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21951,"href":"https:\/\/alhaadi.org.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21949\/revisions\/21951"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alhaadi.org.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/21950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alhaadi.org.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alhaadi.org.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alhaadi.org.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}](\"https:\/\/alhaadi.org.za\/download\/inspirational\/not-even-for-a-sip-of-water.jpg\"){kind=link}